"I decided I really wanted to be closer to home," Brody said. "Indianapolis wasn't the place for me. One of my travel coaches reached out to (St. Xavier assistant coach) John Chappetto and he connected me with coach (Tom) O'Malley and I decided to come to St. Xavier."

It's a move that's worked out beautifully for both sides so far.

Brody, a Lockport native, immediately became a starter for the Cougars. He's averaging 12.4 points and 6.4 rebounds through nine games.

"It's pretty awesome," Brody said. "Coming in, I didn't know how much I'd play or if I'd start, but it's been great."

The proximity to home has provided Brody exactly what he was looking for. His family and friends can watch him play and he can attend some of his brother Sam's games at Providence.

"My grandparents can come to the games and I'll have family and friends at all the games and I love that," he said.

The Cougars are a guard-heavy team. Of the top six minute-getters on the team, just one is taller than Brody, who's 6-foot-5. So it's important for him to do more than just shoot.

"Coach O'Malley always tells us to be selfish rebounders," he said. "He tells us to go after every board. We're not the biggest team, so I need to rebound."

Brody has fit in right away with the Cougars (3-6), especially point guard Quinn Niego.

"I love playing with Quinn," he said. "We both played for Windy City Magic growing up. He was a year older than me, but we'd practice together a lot. Then I played against him when he was at Brother Rice. He's a great player."

Familiar faces: South Suburban coach John Pigatti has a luxury this season that he doesn't often enjoy: a group of players back from last year's team.

Five players returned for their second year with the Bulldogs and three of them — Rasheide Bell, Shakur Pindur and Anthony Harris — are the team's top scorers so far this season.

Including transfers, South Suburban has 10 sophomores on the roster.

"We have veterans and we have depth," Pigatti said. "Some of the guys have to get used to playing here and we need to find some consistency. Right now we don't have that go-to guy we've had in the past. Rasheide looks like he might step up and be that, but we'll see."

The Bulldogs are 8-0 and Pigatti is one win away from the 300th of his career. He'll get a chance for that Tuesday at Oakton.

High-powered Cyclones: Moraine Valley women's coach Delwyn Jones calls it "a perfect storm" that's resulted in perhaps the most talented team he's had in 17 years with the Cyclones.

"The two best post players I've ever had both came back," Jones said. "Then (Argo grad) Sharnita Breeze — she tore her ACL and missed last season, but now she's back and is a big-time guard for us. So we have high expectations."

Moraine is 7-0 and just one game has been decided by less than 10 points.

"We haven't shot the ball well yet," Jones said. "If we get the outside shot going, we'll really be tough."